Steam Reforming of Glycerol for Syngas Production using Pt–Ni Nanoparticles Supported on Bimodal Porous MgAl2O4

Steam reforming of glycerol is often applied for the generation of green hydrogen; however, here, an effort has been made to produce an efficient syngas composition that can utilize effectively for downstream processes like methanol or FT synthesis. A facile precipitation–deposition approach has been chosen to deposit Pt–Ni nanoparticles on bimodel porous MgAl2O4, synthesized by a template-assisted solvothermal method. These newly developed materials are used successfully for steam reforming of glycerol for syngas production. The MgAl2O4 was prepared with different MgO contents between 10 and 30 wt % with a constant Pt (1 wt %) and Ni (5 wt %). All the synthesized materials were characterized in detail to elucidate their physicochemical properties, morphologies, and surface properties via N2 sorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and temperature programmed desorption (CO2-TPD) techniques. The catalyst containing 30 wt % MgO produced a syngas ratio of ∼3 and a minimal amount of CO2 at 850 °C. The influence of all major parameters was evaluated to maximize the catalyst performance, such as reaction temperature, feed rate, space–time, and feed molar ratios. The catalyst exhibited a high activity with a conversion of glycerol close to unity, and the catalysts were found to be stable in glycerol reforming at high temperatures. To understand the catalyst deactivation, spent catalysts have been further examined through XRD, TEM, XPS, and TGA/DTA analysis. The analysis of the used catalyst confirms the high framework stability, low amount of carbonaceous deposits, and high resistance to metal oxidation.